"If those who despise us stone us as prophets, they must listen to us as prophets. If they curse us as sorcerers, they must learn to curse from us, as sorcerers. Let us enlighten the young, and let us be condemned for corrupting the young, like Socrates. Let us awaken the old before they sleep forever, though they must read us in secret like the Kabbalah. [...] The difficulties and successes of our books and magazines, and the rejection and misinterpretation of the films made from our ideas—are the flounderings of the human mind upon the Paleozoic shore. We are the sand in its gills; let's not lose our grit."
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Fantasy authorsScience fiction authors from the United StatesNovelists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United StatesCatholics from the United States
Original Language: English
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Guest of Honor speech at Aussiecon Two (August 1985), as published in Castle of Days (1992)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe
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Gene Wolfe
Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He has won many awards in the field, and is hailed by prominent critics and writers as one of the best and most important then-living science fiction authors.
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